


Everything Will Be Better Soon

by WritLarge



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-21 03:45:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1536353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritLarge/pseuds/WritLarge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There’s no use hiding injuries, now. Very specific instructions had been given, but clearly some of my Nightmares have been… overenthusiastic in their duties.”  Nervous chitters filled the silence. Pitch sighed. </p><p>“Darlings, if I’d wanted you dead, you would be.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well that's all about to change

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this prompt, though not exactly what it’s asking for.
> 
> http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2389.html?thread=5050453#cmt5050453
> 
> What the title says. Though Pitch doesn't remember his past and the fact that he had a daughter, he still maintains some of his paternal instinct. So cue scenes with him randomly showing glimpses of his more protective side towards the younger and smaller beings.

_Pitch has just attacked the Tooth Palace and made off with the tooth boxes and tooth fairies (save for Baby Tooth)_

_“Well that's all about to change.”_

 

It was a horrific experience. 

None of them remembered the battle very clearly. It had been chaotic and terrifying like nothing else had ever been. Their home had been invaded and no matter how hard they’d tried, how hard they’d fought, in the end, they’d failed. Sucked into the bellies of nightmare creatures. 

The fairies had huddled together in the dark, their fear feeding the beast that had carried them; their voices muffled by a suffocating blackness. Surely this was the end when they had been eaten?

The darkness had gone on, timeless and disorientating, until a voice cut through their shroud and caused the form holding them to shift and swirl, funneling them forward and tumbling them into the dim light. When the dizzying ride ended, they were no better off. A cage. Cages. So many cages, filled with fairies. Had anyone escaped? It seemed unlikely.

“Useless beast!” Fairies flinched away from the words that whiplashed through the cavern. One of the Nightmares shattered into splashes of black sand, spilling over the stone walkway and down onto the tooth boxes below.

“There now. It’s all right.” The man with the Voice smoothed his palm over the small fairy that lay in his hand. “Breath, little one.”

The tiny form looked half crushed, feathers bent and missing. The Shadow man, for they recognized him now, gently calmed the fairy and soothed her aches, iridescent feathers shimmering in the torchlight. Once her breathing had evened out, he very carefully placed the fairy into one of the small prisons, where her sisters could watch over her.

He then went through the rest of the cages meticulously, eyes searching each one.

“There’s no use hiding injuries, now. Very specific instructions had been given, but clearly some of my Nightmares have been… overenthusiastic in their duties.” Nervous chitters filled the silence. Pitch sighed. 

“Darlings, if I’d wanted you dead, you would be.”

It was terrifyingly true. The Nightmares could have just as easily have torn them apart. They still could.

Slowly, each group of fairies seemed to come to their own consensus, and bring forward any especially hurt siblings. Small wounds or aches were ignored. They were well used to being overworked, caught in the occasional storm or a mid air collision. Only the most threatening injuries were worth exposing to one such as him.

Pitch Black tended each one himself. Shadows carefully bracketed the cage doors with a darkness that prevented further escape, yielding only to their master when he reached inside. Allowing it was a disturbing necessity, as evidenced by the blood and feathers that littered the floors of so many cages. Still, as time crept by, their sisters were returned with due care, wounds bound and treated with delicate precision.

The able-bodied fairies chittered quietly as they tried to make sense of what was happening and calm the panic that constantly threatened to overwhelm them. Flying was impossible and, while perches had been thoughtfully included, it was very cramped. They could do little but press against one another and hope that their mistress would find them soon. Time here seemed to move as strangely as the dark shapes cast by the moving flames that were their only light. They had only just arrived and yet must have been here for hours at least.

And so it was some unfathomable time later that a Nightmare cantered into the lair, setting the fairies on edge and trailing streams of what seemed to be black dream sand. 

Pitch stood below, hands washed clean of fairy blood with his charges safely resting in the bottoms of their cages. He was studying the tarnished globe with dismay.

“The lights… “ he began in consternation. “Why aren’t they going out?”

The Nightmare gave a rough whinny as it approached. He seemed to understand it and reacted with incredulity.

“They’re collecting the teeth?” 

Collecting the teeth? The fairies began to twitter and cheep excitedly. Of course Toothiana had found a way! The European division would maintain their own territory, of course, as would the Oceanic division (though they had always been a bit odd and isolationist), but the rest? The sheer population of Asia and the vastness of the Americas, not to mention Africa… It must be the Guardians! 

In their excitement, they didn’t notice Pitch Black’s rising ire.

“Pipe down, or I’ll stuff a pillow with you!” 

The harsh words were utterly incongruent with the tenderness Pitch had shown them earlier. It threw a chill over the cavern and reminded them of the immediate danger that they were in.

But Pitch didn’t spend his wrath on the cages. The Nightmare who had delivered the news snuffled at its master, as if seeking reward. The dark man’s attention snapped back to the beast and he growled in frustration, sending the Nightmare reeling.

The determination of the Boogeyman was clear. The fairies watched in dread and awe as Pitch pulled dark sand from the shadows, its mass curving and growing before him in the air.

“Fine. Have your last hurrah.” The sparkling grains of darkness coalesced into a figure – The Sandman. “For tomorrow, your pathetic scrambling will be for nothing.” 

A few soft twittering gasps escaped as Pitch crushed the image of The Sandman that he had formed. The fairies were very fond of him, encountering him often in the nights as they worked, delighting in the dream images and glowing golden streams he threaded through the night. He was their friend. Could they stay and hope that he was strong enough to face down Pitch Black’s plot? 

No. No, they couldn’t wait. Something had to be done. The moment Pitch left the cavern, the fairies huddled together. They’d been in and out of tight places for centuries. Surely if anyone could find a way to escape, it was they?


	2. Finally! Someone who knows how to have a little fun.

_Pitch has just succeeded in defeating Sandy._

_“Finally! Someone who knows how to have a little fun.”_

 

“Marvelous!”

Every feather ruffled and pricked when Pitch returned, sweeping gleefully into his lair. A draft followed him, causing the flames of the torches to dance and sway, but it gave them no inkling from where or when he had come. The Boogeyman's manic grin invoked a sick sense of dread in his captives. For him to be so delighted surely meant that terrible things had happened. The Sandman... What had Pitch done?

Unfortunately, their captor had little interest in reliving his victory.

“And how are we faring, my dears? Hmmm?” He peered into cages and examined wrappings. Several fairies feigned injury, in the hopes that they might be removed and given an opportunity to escape. They had discovered that the cages were more than they appeared. None of their magic affected the hanging prisons. Pitch had been planning this for a very long time indeed.

“It won’t be too much longer. Everything is falling into place. Another day or two and things will be quite settled.“ He patted one moaning fairy gently.

“You’ll have to endure the tight quarters until then, I’m afraid.” His smile remained, but lost its manic edge. “But when this storm has past, I’ll see you to more appropriate climes. Won’t that be lovely? You’ve been overworked for far too long. It will be a well deserved rest, don’t you agree?”

Pitch waited a moment and then frowned at the silence. They were too stunned to answer. No more work? What would they do? They had always worked. Busy, busy, to and fro, hardly ever pausing for more than a few wing beats. It was one of many reasons that being packed into cages was so tortuous. There was nothing to do! Rest? He might as well ask them to fly to the Moon.

Their dilemma was lost on the Nightmare King. Anger sparked across his face, sharpening his brow and setting his eyes aglow. The shadows gathered and frothed like storm clouds. The fairies braced for themselves for the searing viciousness of his rebuke. It never came. As suddenly as it had been kindled, his rage snuffed out.

“Oh little ones." Pitch sagged and shook his head piteously. "You don’t even see what she’s _done_ to you.

"It's to be expected, I suppose. Enslaved by her “duty” and “love”. You've never known anything else, so how can you understand what it is I'm offering you?” He sighed. “Never mind. It will get better with time. You’ll see. A little fear can go a long way to keeping everyone safe and secure.”

And with that, Pitch turned away, moving to peer down over the side of the walkway.

Shock and relief sent their emotions swinging again. Even the fairies that had been playing wounded looked up, eyes wide and round. The Nightmare King wasn’t at all what they had expected him to be and it left them paralyzed in confusion. They weren’t slaves! And what could someone like him offer them?

“Now, you all seem to be managing, but we’ll have to start changing bandages soon.” He slid through the shadows and appeared by the tooth boxes piled below. “Right after I do a little digging.”

The fairies could do nothing but watch as Pitch shoved the work of their lives about. Boxes clattering against one another as they cascaded down the sides of the heap. Gasps and nervous squeaks floated down from the cages, but the Boogeyman ignored them.

It was awful.

Time went by in drips and spurts. Pitch sifted through the nearly all of the tooth boxes, but, to the fairies relief, didn’t actually damage any of them beyond a few dinged corners. When he finished, he secreted a box away in the shadows that formed his clothing. He hadn’t opened it, thankfully. Still. What would the Nightmare King want with a child’s tooth box?

True to his word, he began tending to them again. The fairies that tried to gain his attention were disregarded in favour of those with bandages already, and a few others whose festering wounds he discovered in his thorough inspections. 

It quickly passed between cages that Pitch had taken to holding one-sided conversations with the fairies he worked on. Not in front of the others, but back in the shadows, where he saw to their most grievous injuries. The little fairy he held now, wrapped and coddled, cooed as he stroked his fingers lightly across her feathers.

“Poor boy,” Pitch sighed. “I should have done this properly, but I’ve been far too distracted with my Nightmares. If I’d been paying more attention, he’d be here with me now, instead of with those wretched Guardians.” 

He grumbled ominously and set his jaw in determination. 

“I’ll just have to make it up to him. When he’s seen the Guardians for their selves and not their offices, seen how quickly they’ll turn on him, and how little they truly know and care for the children they claim to protect... then he’ll understand.”

The tiny fairy, that had only been half listening to the voice, let out a small indignant squeak against the slight of her mistress, and then an aching moan.

“Oh my dear, be gentle with yourself.” Pitch checked her with cautious fingers. “You don’t want to aggravate your wounds.”

He carried her over to the raised table, setting the fairy upon the dressings next to her resting sisters, and continued on as her adjusted bandages.

“Still, even you must admit her neglect. Toothiana hasn’t been bothered to leave her place of power in decades, perhaps even centuries. What does she know of children and their needs, their dreams and their nightmares? Does she hear their desperate pleas for help and wretchedly warranted fears? No, only echoes of them,” Pitch continued venomously, “memories.” 

His eyes hardened, “And what use is that? What use is a Guardian who only ever appears after the fact, when the hurt and pain and need are past? At least the Rabbit attempts to strike preemptively, with his pathetic little drabble of a holiday. And Christmas! A garish spectacle – almost a punishment even, for those whose chances for wonder have been crushed at the hands of those who should have cherished them.” 

Pitch shook his head in disgust, his voice rising in frustration so that it reverberated through the cavern.

“No, the three of them won’t listen and they won’t bend. It must be done. They've had their chance and now their time is over.” 

He strode out to the cages and placed the fairies in with their sisters, all of who were now on the verge of panic. Nerves already frayed, they pushed at one another in alarm, unable to act. Their mistress was in danger! Frightened chitters rose in distress, as Nightmares crept out of the shadows and lingered by their master. 

The Nightmare King moved back and seemed to pause in thought, black dream sand threading through the air around him. He reached out to trail a hand through the dark streams. If the fairies had been paying attention, they might have seen the wistful expression on their captor’s face.

“The Sandman, though.” Pitch stepped away from the cage, running a contemplative hand down the mane of the nearest Nightmare. “There might be an opportunity there. Perhaps, once I’ve finished with the others, I’ll let Jack help me “find” him.”

Nightmares pranced and whinnied in approval.

Clanging and clattering rang through the cavern, as panic fueled desperation led the strongest fairies to throw themselves against the bars of their prisons. Cages swung chaotically; the wounded and smaller sisters sent reeling.

“SILENCE!” Pitch demanded, yellow eyes ablaze.

His command sent a scorching wave of terror through them, crumbling the fairies resolve and sending the Nightmares into submissive retreat. Even the glittering black sand dropped limply to the floor.

He savoured it for a moment, lips curving into a smirk, allowing them time to gather their wits. When they started to watch him again, it began. The room contorted. Shadows lengthened. The darkness twisted and grew thick, filling the corners and caressing the edges of Pitch’s robe as he pulled out a glittering tooth box.

“Time to begin.”


	3. Don’t be afraid, Jack. I’m not going to hurt you.

_This overlaps slightly and continues after the scene in the movie where Jack is lured into Pitch’s lair, taunted and ejected with his tooth box._

_“Don’t be afraid, Jack. I’m not going to hurt you.”_

 

Pitch did things with the tooth box that they hadn’t known could be done. Dark, wicked things.

Poor Jack.

They tried to warn their sister and her companion, but they hadn’t stood a chance against him. The Boogeyman understood Jack too well. This was his element. Every word he spoke was calculated for maximum affect, stoking the sprite’s fears, and yet somehow not entirely heartless.

“Well, let me ease your mind about one thing. They'll never accept you. Not really.” _Not like I will_ \- The unvoiced subtext was obvious to the fairies. Would Jack hear it too?

“Stop it! Stop it!”

Would this really bring Jack to the Nightmare King’s side? 

Pitch seemed to think so. He gifted the tooth box to Jack, continuing his taunts, and goading him into running headlong through a darkly disguised portal. It rapidly disappeared.

“Happy Easter, Jack.” The words sank into the shadows after the boy.

The fairies were devastated. Why hadn’t Jack opened the doors? Even one or two and they could have done the rest, freeing the others themselves. Or tried to, at least. Pitch had been there; lurking in the blackness while Jack frantically scrabbled about on the heap of tooth boxes. Maybe there hadn’t been a chance for them after all.

Pitch chuckled as he returned to the cavern, striding triumphantly.

It was the work of a moment for him to snatch Baby Tooth from the air.

“Hush. Hush, now. You’ve been a very naughty girl.” He waved a finger in her face. Chastising her as a father might a child. “But you can make it up to me.” Still smiling, he wrapped her tightly in dark bands of shadow. 

The fairies fretted over the scene, unsure if their captor would be as kind to her as he had been to them. Baby Tooth thrashed in his palm.

“Now don’t squirm. Save your strength. You’ll need to stay as warm as you can for now. Things are going to get worse before they get better, but it will all work out as it should.” 

Baby Tooth continued to fight valiantly, though her sisters knew how futile that was. The Nightmare King was simply too powerful here. Now he had them all, down to the last. Still, even defeated and bound, her sisters couldn’t help but envy Baby Tooth. She’d been Named. Not by Toothiana, clearly. But Jack had given her one, or called her by it at least, and none of the rest of them had names. She wasn’t even one of the eldest. It was hardly fair.

Pitch regarded them knowingly as he tucked Baby Tooth into his robes. The encroaching shadows that had menaced Jack faded, the room stilling peacefully.

“Don’t be disheartened. I know how you must feel, and we’ll put it all right soon, I promise.” His gaze was sympathetic. Fairies that fluttered near the top perches glared back at him, but those at the bottom, who knew his kindness, tried and failed to hold on to their anger.

“It seems unkind, but Jack needs a little tough love. And now the Guardians will do the worst of it on their own! Clinging to their dwindling base of believers, they’ll retreat back into their realms, as they always do, blaming Jack for their rather spectacular Easter failure. The boy will be crushed, of course, even more so than before. Abandoned _yet again_.“ Pitch spread his arms in dramatic emphasis.

“Unfortunately, his stubbornness prevents me from sparing him the ordeal,” he continued regretfully. “He’d never believe me. But there will be no denying this result. Once he’s experienced the truth, Jack will be free of their labels and judgments. With my guidance, he can become who he was meant to be.”

The Boogeyman paced around the cages, his firm gaze making contact. He clearly wanted them to understand. “That rash recklessness that was his undoing just now will find its proper place, instead of hurting those around him.”

There was an odd ring of truth to his words that the fairies didn’t like at all.

The wrongness of it weighed on them. Pitch should be hateful and cruel. Jack should have brought their rescue. But Jack had failed and Pitch, with his gentle hands and calming words, Pitch had yet to do any of them true harm. Not even to Baby Tooth. And if he’d meant what he said before… were their lives really so awful that the King of Nightmares felt sorry for them?

“Don't worry. He won’t be alone for long, darlings. In fact, I really should be on my way. Everything will be fine. Fear is the key - Ah,“ Pitch smiled, watching with satisfaction as their wings began to fail them and they clung to the bars. “There we go.”

Reaching inside cages, he righted the fairies that had fallen, too shocked by the loss of their magic to save themselves. Pitch clucked in amusement the ones who resisted. He settled them on perches where he could and made room for those who needed to sit or lie below. He almost skipped between cages, clearly pleased by how smoothly his plan was unfolding. 

When he was done, the Nightmare King backed towards a darkly cloaked patch of wall. A burst of cold parted the shadows. He placed a careful hand over the spot on his robes where they could see Baby Tooth, still wriggling fiercely. 

“I’ll be back shortly with Jack. He’ll be safe here with you while I finish with the Guardians. And soon, without the “Big Four” to interfere, we’ll all be free.”

He tilted his head and was gone, only a swirl of shadow and snow left in his wake.


	4. They never really believed in you. I was just trying to show you that.

_Pitch and Jack’s confrontation in Antarctica has passed. Jack and Baby Tooth are on their way back to the lair._

_“They never really believed in you. I was just trying to show you that.”_

 

It seemed like a much longer time than it must have been. But nothing was simple here. Pitch was gone, taking Baby Tooth and leaving behind promises that divided the fairies for the first time in memory.

Not that the few fairies sympathetic to Pitch argued very strongly. Most of them were still in pain or weak. They couldn’t muster the same animosity or disgust for the Nightmare King that their righteously healthy sisters could, up on their perches, stiff with rage. 

How dare he? How dare the Boogeyman presume to know them and their desires? Were they bound, forced, unloved? Their mistress had always been kind and free with her praise, even as the strict taskmaster she had to be in order for the duty to be fulfilled. They must remain united! The fairies had been a family for centuries. In all that time, Pitch Black had never been anything other than a menace.

These were the furious chirpings that overwhelmed the rest. There were no ears to listen to descriptions of care and concern, of the soft whispers and warm looks that the fairies had only seen in forbidden glimpses of concerned parents as they tucked in their children. There were no nightmares either, kept tightly under reign instead of plaguing their sleep. Nor had there been the casual dismissal of injuries that had been so commonplace.

Those fairies had been the most affected. That Pitch had noticed the small hurts that even they had dismissed, being long used to ignoring their own pangs in favour of speed and efficiency. He had sussed out the hidden wounds and treated them as importantly as any other, leaving them both grateful and unnerved by the tenderness he bestowed upon them.

It would have been easier if he had been cruel.

Eventually, high emotions faded into quieter apprehension. The shadows still flickered but were lifeless without their master. The cavern had settled into an eerie quiet, which was why so many of the fairies nearly toppled from their perches when Jack burst into lair.

Jack! Jack Frost was here, soaring through the air on a frigid breeze, Baby Tooth on his shoulder.

The sprite was focused now, flitting from cage to cage and throwing open doors, so eager and determined that he couldn’t see their plight. He left behind a sudden chill as he passed. Not a few of the fairies found their feathers damped with tears of frustration, to find their wings were useless now that their their path to freedom was finally clear.

“Come on, let’s go.” They fairies chirped at him plaintively, trying to make him understand. If only he had come earlier. Now it was too late.

“What’s wrong?” Jack’s eyes searched the cages, wide and concerned. It seemed to hit him at once and he leaned in, shocked and dismayed. “None of you can fly?”

Hearing it aloud shattered their calm and many began to openly weep. 

Baby Tooth, who had been perched on Jack’s shoulder, her wings no more effective than theirs, noticed the globe first. She loudly grabbed his attention. Jack peered down.

“The lights…” They were vanishing, being snuffed out dozens at a time. Landing on the ground, Jack approached the darkening sphere. 

The fairies tried to watch, but they were wary of the open cage doors and the long drop beneath them. If the lights were going out, surely Pitch would be back soon? Baby Tooth was unharmed, and had been returned to Jack, who Pitch hadn’t hurt either. That had been his plan hadn’t it? All of them together without the Guardians?

“They’re all going out.” For a moment Jack was as still as ice, as powerless as they were to stop what Pitch had done. He wouldn’t suffer the loss of belief though. Not like Bunnymund or North or Toothiana. Aside from their wings, the fairies hadn’t either. Not in essence. While most of their sisters fumed, the others had begun to wonder how Pitch would fix them, because of course he would. He’d promised. 

They couldn’t see Jack’s face, but the lights had gone out, all of -

No. Not all. Jack jumped up onto the globe, Baby Tooth at his shoulder, crouching over one last little light.

“Jamie!” The name must have meant something to the boy, who sprung suddenly from his position, taking to the air. Only Baby Tooth’s frantic twittering had made him pause just long enough to set her down before departing in a flurry. 

It had all happened so fast, even faster than the first time Jack had come. The wind soon settled and the shadows of the cavern pressed down on them now that Jack had gone. Baby Tooth knelt below, watching the globe and its one lonely light hopefully. There were subdued twitterings amongst the cages. They didn’t dare try and close the doors, so the fairies perched closest to them pressed away and made what little room they had even more overcrowded.

Soon it was quiet again, and they waited.


	5. Aww, you'll protect them. But who will protect you?

_During the battle between the Guardians and Pitch_

_“Aww, you'll protect them. But who will protect you?”_

 

For a long time Baby Tooth had watched the globe, as if hoping for a sign, but as time oozed by as it did in this place she had slumped and turned to her sisters. The golden feather on her head had always been a subject of much discussion and her eyes were changing again, mismatched colours gleaming. Was it the Naming? She hadn’t told them anything since she’d arrived. She was as flightless as they, helpless really. When she and Jack had returned without the Nightmare King and tried to free them, the fairies realized that Jack had sided with the Guardians.

They yearned to know more. Hadn’t Pitch shown them the truth about the Guardians like he’d said? And if he’d been mistaken, where was Toothiana to prove him wrong? If Jack had found them, surely their mistress could have as well?

Pitch didn’t know anything, the other side argued. Why are you worried about him? Worry for our mistress who is fighting his dark plan! Worry for the children whose memories go unprotected!

Baby Tooth listened in confusion as her sisters argued. It was a rare event.

Cowed into submission by sheer numbers, their sisters disapproving looks of pity shaming them into silence, the handful of dissenting fairies secretly maintained their vigil.

They all felt the change in their wings before they saw it on the globe. 

The lights were back, glowing brightly. Baby Tooth and the able fairies dove through the air to the tooth box pile below. They snapped open box after box. Memories sparking in the minds of children across the world and increasing the glow of the lights on the globe so that the shadows dwindled and waned. They were jubilant, reveling in the glory of their calling.

The others, those who crouched or lay on the bottoms of the swinging cages, some able to fly but mostly not, watched anxiously. Pitch had failed. Whatever his plan, it was over now. Now was the time for choosing. 

It wasn’t much of a choice. In cage after cage, chittering fairies caught their sister’s attention and were carried to freedom. Up, up into the cool night air. The children needed them. Toothiana needed them. They had a home to rebuild and a status to reclaim. Returning belief helped energize them all and they could imagine their aches and pains to be less than they were.

They found the wounded a place not far from Jack’s pond, in a stout tree, where they could be hidden safely. None of the fliers remained though, all but the worst wounded moving the tooth boxes from the lair for fear that Pitch would return and destroy them. A few fairies were spared to find Toothiana, led by Baby Tooth. 

It was finally over. No more dark shadows or cramped cages or confusing Nightmare Kings. They had chosen the right path. Pitch had been doomed to failure from the start. The Guardians were right, The Man In The Moon himself had appointed them, and Jack had seen it too. 

The work was what they were meant to do. Serving and protecting the children of the world, it was selfish to want more. They had their mistress and each other, a home and a duty, the love of children everywhere. What were a few pains and sacrifices compared to that?

There was still the sore point of Names, though some of the sisters felt that Naming was unseemly. Toothiana might not approve. They would have to wait and see. For now, things were being set to rights. All was well.

Back in the lair, now emptied of tooth boxes and abandoned, the shadows cast by the golden glow of the globe were safe and silent.


	6. You can't get rid of me! Not forever! There will always be fear!

Pitch returns to his lair after being defeated by the Guardians

“You can't get rid of me! Not forever! There will always be fear!” 

 

“Nooooo!” It galled Pitch to have his work turn against him, but if he fought their instincts now, in full view of the Guardians, he’d spend what little advantage he had left. He wasn’t a Guardian. He didn’t need belief, as much as he longed for it. No. He was the Nightmare King, the Boogeyman, the very personification of Fear. They may have won the battle, but the war would yet continue.

Swept up in the Nightmare current, Pitch was dragged through the night, down into his lair, the ground collapsing behind them. Tumbling forward, he forced them away and managed a few steps from the roiling darkness before stopping in shock.

Hovering before him, shimmering in the torchlight, was one lone little fairy.

The Nightmares reared and began to charge forward, causing her to shriek and flee. In an instant, Pitch rounded on the beasts, his eyes flashing fiercely. With one brutal sweep of his arm they shattered, howls of fury filling the lair as black sand splashed violently across the stonework. The Boogeyman seethed and glared, daring the darkness to oppose him. But it had been centuries since the night had held anything worth challenging. 

“Wretched things.” Straightening, he shook off the sand that clung to his robes. It was a shame, but clearly he had relied too much on the corrupted dream sand. Ah well.

He bowed his head and let his irises shift until they shone with a golden warmth. Allowing the disappointment and bitterness of defeat to slip from his face, Pitch melted through the dark flickering shadows and appeared on the walkway.

“It’s all right, dearest.” He spoke softly. “You can come out now.”

He held out a hand, hoping that he hadn’t terrified her too badly. The little fairy had retreated back into one of the cages closest to the bridge. She flew cautiously forward to Pitch’s outstretched palm. He had expected her to land, but instead, she grabbed his finger and tugged him forward.

“What? Yes, all right. I’m coming.” He smiled, somewhat amazed. She had clearly chosen to remain or she’d have fled with her sisters, or at least from him when he’d returned. She chirped excitedly when they reached the cage.

The sound multiplied as her sisters answered her, twittering joyfully.

Pitch was left speechless, heart in his throat, by the little faces that peered out at him. Counting quickly, there weren’t many. A mere dozen perhaps. No, not many at all. But they were here and they had chosen him.

“My dear girls,” He started forward, eagerly. “I’m so happy to see you.” 

And he was. It was a new feeling for him, or perhaps a very, very old one. The priorities inspired by this blooming gladness surged forward in his mind. Pitch hovered, raking his eyes over them and assessing their well being, murmuring to himself as he balanced on top of the half wall. Bandages would need to be changed. Food and water replenished. Each fairy checked to be healing properly. And the cages, they’d need to be fixed too. They girls could each have their own, and would need nesting material, and of course the doors would have to come off, and-

“Names.” He said suddenly. “You need Names!”

Everyone one of the little fairies beamed at him then, preening excitedly. Happily. Yes, they would have proper home here, under his protection where his power still thrummed, weaker than before but no less potent with potential. He would see to it. 

He’d have to start again, that’s all. Those wretched Guardians thought him banished? Let them. If there was one thing he had in abundance now, it was time. The promise of it, just he and the little ones and their shadows, that thrilled him. He would rebuild, better this time - for his girls. 

_His girls._

“Hah!” The exclamation startled a few of the fairies, causing them to squeak. Pitch smiled at them reassuringly, realizing his mistake too late when they cried out. Two fairies immediately flitted over to fuss. 

“Oh, it’s merely a missing tooth.” He waved them away, trying to quell their concerns. “It’s nothing. Nothing you have to worry about. Not anymore.” 

The fairies eyed him dubiously.

“It was a small sacrifice for what turned out to be a great gain.” They blushed and smiled shyly back at him. Yes. If Toothiana’s little triumph led her to miss his own reward, he would accept the humiliation gladly. Jack’s rejection had stung, to be sure. Even so, Pitch had intended to fetch the boy after the battle. But Frost had made his choice. Pity.

“Now, I’m afraid some things may take a while, darlings.” He lifted the cage effortlessly from its place; careful not to jostle the delicate ones in the bottom, while the fairies who could fly alighted on his shoulders. “We’ve been sealed in for now. But that won’t last, I promise. I’ll take care of everything. Names first, and then we’ll work on the rest.”

He carried the girls through the shadows to the side rooms where he had tended each of them with care and affection. Not wanting to rush such an important act, Pitch took the time to make them all comfortable and consider his method. He painstakingly chose Names for each of them. They were beautiful, dark and lush. He gave each fairy her own moment, voicing her Name and letting the word blanket her like a blessing, infusing her with his power. Iridescent feathers shifted, tropical greens and blues bleeding away into prodigious purples and blacks. The girls gasped delightedly at their new plumage. Then they gasped again, hearing the whispering softness of their new dark voices for the first time.

Pitch sighed contentedly at the sound. It was an excellent beginning. Things could only improve from here.

“Yes, girls. Everything will be better soon.”


	7. Keep it together, girls

_Epilogue in the Sleigh_

_“Keep it together, girls.”_

 

The cool wind ruffled Toothiana’s feathers as North took them higher, the sleigh rising into the clouds. A quick glance confirmed that the fairy that Jack had Named still perched on his shoulder. Baby Tooth. That would have to be addressed eventually. What must her sisters think?

Curled up happily next to Tooth were several of her girls. They’d been through so much with Pitch. A few had volunteered to get the children back to bed, eager to be useful. The others… The Guardian of Memory closed her eyes. The collective hum of the fairies mood in her mind was pleasantly steady again now that belief had returned, though she knew that was tenuous. She couldn’t bring herself to disturb them with her concerns just yet, but now that the worst was over all she could think about was the work ahead.

Staring into the night sky, she spent a moment in mourning for the fairies that would not be returning to her. The girls had told her of Pitch’s darkness and how it had taken its toll. Fairies had been wounded and broken in the battle; some hadn’t survived long enough to escape. Toothiana’s rage had spurred her to lash out at the Boogeyman. She didn’t care that his tooth hadn’t been hers for the taking. It had been a well-deserved strike, the results of which now sat lifeless and cold in her hand. She tucked the pointed grey tooth away where she wouldn’t be tempted by the memories inside. 

There was no time to spare for such things. 

Not when there were teeth to collect, boxes to reclaim, a palace to rebuild – so much to do! Her girls would carry on, she was sure, and the other Guardians would help. As arduous as the last few days had been, the Guardians had risen to the occasion, and Toothiana felt that together they could do anything.

Especially with Pitch trapped inside his lair. Powerless in defeat, he’d have nothing but his own Nightmares for company for decades at least. She could put the Boogeyman out of her thoughts and focus properly.

Time to get to started.


End file.
